100,000 Computer Simulations Reveal Milky Way Galaxy's Fate | NASA Goddard

100,000 Computer Simulations Reveal Milky Way Galaxy's Fate | NASA Goddard

For decades, astronomers believed that one thing was as certain as death and taxes: the Milky Way and our neighboring Andromeda galaxy were on a crash course . . . destined to collide in less than 5 billion years.

That galactic smash-up would spark massive star formation, scatter stars like cosmic billiard balls, and possibly throw our Sun into a whole new orbit.

But now . . . that future may not be so certain.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 
Paul Morris: Lead Producer
Milky Way Timelapse
Stock Footage Provided By Pond5/lovemushroom
Artist Rendition of Gaia Spacecraft
ESA
Artist’s animation of the Sun becoming a red giant
ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)
Milky Way and Andromeda Collision Simulation
Visualization Credit: NASA, ESA, and F. Summers (STScI) Simulation Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Besla (Columbia University), and R. van der Marel (STScI)
Duration: 2 minutes, 33 seconds
Release Date: June 2, 2025

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